"Star Trek" Premieres Trivia Quiz

"The Man Trap" premiered on September 8, 1966, kicking off the "Star Trek" franchise for (what would become known as) "The Original Series."

The iconic USS Enterprise and its (prominent) crew - Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty - were introduced to the world and would become pop culture icons for decades to come (Chekov would be introduced later).

In "The Man Trap," Captain Kirk leads a landing party to a distant outpost to perform routine physicals on two researchers. An intelligent, metamorphic alien creature, capable of perfectly mimicking human appearance, is discovered on the planet, and it begins preying on the crew of the Enterprise by extracting the essential salt from their bodies.

The series lasted three seasons with 79 episodes in total.

Four years after the end of "The Original Series," the crew of the USS Enterprise was back on TV - in animated form. "Star Trek: The Animated Series" premiered on September 8, 1973 with the episode "Beyond the Farthest Star." And amazingly, all of the original cast from "TOS" reprised their roles.

In the premiere episode, the Enterprise is exploring the farthest reaches of the galaxy when a mysterious force pulls the ship into orbit around a stellar remnant. They find a massive, ancient spacecraft and must contend with a non-corporeal, malevolent lifeform that threatens to take over their starship.

The series lasted two seasons with 22 episodes in total.

"Star Trek: The Next Generation" brought the magic of "Star Trek" back to television with a new Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) and a new crew: Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Yar, La Forge, Troi, and Crusher... and let's not forget young Wesley!

The premiere episode, which aired on September 28, 1987, was "Encounter at Farpoint." On the first mission of the Enterprise-D, the crew investigates a strange, instantly built starbase called Farpoint. Their investigation is interrupted by the godlike being Q, who subjects the crew (representing the entire human race) to a trial to determine their worthiness to explore the galaxy.

The series lasted seven seasons with 178 episodes in total.

For the first time, two "Star Trek" series aired concurrently, as "Deep Space Nine" premiered midway through the 6th season of "TNG," on January 3, 1993.

An overlap of characters also occurred, as Chief Miles O'Brien joined the staff of "DS9," transferring from the Enterprise (which also made an appearance in the premiere, along with Captain Picard). Other main characters included Sisko, Kira, Dax, Odo, Bashir, and various colourful civilians like Quark and Garak.

In "Emissary," following a tragic loss, Commander Sisko is stationed on a former Cardassian facility, newly christened as 'Deep Space Nine,' to help the recently liberated Bajoran people. His mission is complicated when he encounters an immense, non-linear phenomenon - a stable wormhole and home of the mystical 'Prophets' - that connects Bajoran space to the distant Gamma Quadrant, leading the Bajorans to revere Sisko as their religious 'Emissary.'

The series lasted seven seasons with 176 episodes in total.

With the premiere of the newest "Star Trek" series, a new ship became the 'vehicle' for the newest cast of characters. "Voyager" included the first female captain - Janeway - and a terrific supporting crew, including Chakotay, Paris, Kim, Torres, and the Doctor. Neelix and Kes would also join the crew before the end of the premiere story.

With "DS9" still on the air in its third season, "Voyager" premiered with "Caretaker" on January 16, 1995. The USS Voyager, under the command of Captain Kathryn Janeway, is hunting a Maquis rebel ship in the treacherous Badlands. Both ships are transported 70,000 light-years across the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant by a mysterious entity known as the Caretaker, forcing the Starfleet and Maquis crews to join forces for the long journey home.

The series lasted seven seasons with 168 episodes in total.

The run of "Voyager" ended in May of 2001, but the gap until the next series debuted was very short. "Star Trek: Enterprise" - a prequel series - premiered with "Broken Bow" on September 26th, featuring a new crew, including Archer, T'Pol, Tucker, Reed, Sato, Mayweather, and Phlox.

Set a century before "TOS," Captain Jonathan Archer commands the Enterprise NX-01, humanity' first starship capable of achieving Warp 5. Against the objections of the Vulcans, the crew is sent on an urgent mission to return an injured Klingon to his homeworld, inadvertently becoming embroiled in a complicated interstellar cold war involving the Suliban.

The series lasted four seasons with 98 episodes in total.

After a 12-year hiatus, "Star Trek" returned to television with "Discovery," which premiered on September 24, 2017 with the episode, "The Vulcan Hello," a 2-part storyline that finished with "Battle at the Binary Stars." Another prequel series, the first two seasons were set a decade before "TOS," then made a time jump to the 32nd century for subsequent seasons.

In the opening story, while posted aboard the USS Shenzhou, First Officer Michael Burnham is instrumental in a tense first encounter with the Klingon Empire. Believing a diplomatic approach will lead to disaster, Burnham defies her commanding officer and attempts a controversial move to prevent a devastating conflict from breaking out.

Saru was the only other (regular) crew member to feature in the opening story, with others (Stamets, Culber, Tilly) and more joining later.

The series lasted five seasons with 65 episodes in total.

The last on-screen appearance by Captain Jean-Luc Picard before "Star Trek: Picard" came out in 2020 was in December of 2002 with the release of the fourth "TNG" film, "Star Trek: Nemesis."

Captain Picard managed to gather together the former crew of the Enterprise-D by the end of the series, but in the premiere episode, "Remembrance," only Data made an appearance, and then only in dream sequences.

In the episode, which began streaming on January 23, 2020, retired Admiral Picard is living a quiet life haunted by past failures, particularly the death of Data (in "Nemesis") and the rogue synthetics' attack on Mars 14 years ago. His solitude is broken by the arrival of a mysterious woman named Dahj, who is inexplicably linked to Data and needs Picard's help against a grave threat.

The series lasted three seasons with 30 episodes in total.

At long last, a second animated "Star Trek" series! Although in contrast, this one was done as a tongue-in-cheek adult comedy set in the "Lower Decks" of a starship, with characters who would normally not be prominent, like in previous shows: Boimler, Mariner, Rutherford, and Tendi.

The premiere episode, "Second Contact," came out on August 6, 2020. The episode (and series) focused on the daily lives of the junior officers aboard the USS Cerritos, a ship tasked with less glamorous Starfleet duties. While dealing with a terrifying biological outbreak that turns crewmates into aggressive, zombie-like beings, the low-ranking Ensigns try to manage a mundane diplomatic operation.

The series lasted five seasons with 50 episodes in total.

"Star Trek: Prodigy" was another animated series, this time geared towards younger audiences, and the first done with 3D computer animation. The show premiered on October 28, 2021 with the 2-part episode, "Lost & Found."

A motley group of young aliens, imprisoned on a harsh asteroid colony, manages to discover and secretly take control of the abandoned Starfleet vessel, the USS Protostar. The teenagers seize their chance to escape their enslavement and begin a chaotic adventure across the Delta Quadrant.

The series lasted two seasons with 40 episodes in total.

Yet another prequel series, this time featuring Captain Pike, who preceded Kirk as captain of the USS Enterprise. In "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," in addition to Pike's crew, younger versions of some of the original "TOS" crew become part of the show.

The first episode, "Strange New Worlds," was released on May 5, 2022. Captain Pike is reluctant to resume command of the Enterprise after seeing disturbing visions of his future. He is compelled to act, however, when his second-in-command, Chin-Riley (Number One) is captured. Pike leads a mission that requires him to risk breaking Starfleet's General Order One in order to prevent a pre-warp civilization from destroying itself.

A continuation of the "Star Trek" story in the 32nd century after the events of "Discovery," where the United Federation of Planets has begun to rebuild after the catastrophic 'Burn' that happened 120 years ago.

The premiere episode of "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy" was released on January 15th, 2026 entitled "Kids These Days," introducing a mix of new characters - mainly students and staff of the newly reconstituted Starfleet Academy, along with a number of references to previous series and characters, and even with the still-existing holographic Doctor from "Voyager" as the academy's chief medical officer!